Spice Bag Newsletter | February 2025
New year, new name, a free monthly newsletter full of delicious little chunks, from recommendations, suggestions and updates to exclusives and insider tidbits –– free for all our readership!
Welcome to the new name for something we’ve been doing for almost three years now on Chip Paper: our free monthly newsletter got an upgraded name (thanks to your votes late last year) and a shiny new hand-drawn graphic! Any excuse to illustrate a spice bag we will take, ‘cause beige can be beautiful too…
If you are new here - and there are a lot of new eyes - Hiya! This is our main monthly newsletter, free to all subscribers (we operate both a free model and paid model but this goes out to everyone!) Chip Paper is all about long reads, in-depth food writing and deep dives, all punctuated by our own hand-drawn illustrations, but THIS specific once-monthly mailer (usually sent the first of the month) is kind of a highlights reel. Things like where we have been eating and exploring, what we’ve been streaming across TV and podcasts, recaps of articles published you may have missed and general insights, updates and news.
Life has been wonderfully busy of late with the new little handful in our lives, Hamilton The Frenchie, who just marked three months with us! Our almost four year-old, 19kg rescue black ‘n’ tan bulldog is settling in so well (but taking up a LOT of our time). We have wished and prayed for a dog for so long and it’s true what they say: the rescue chooses you, you don’t choose them, and Hammy is no exception. We are besotted. Definitely find his IG or TikTok if you want to keep on top of his escapades!
Patrick’s iPad (b. 2017) finally kicked the bucket late last year (RIP), which is what ALL our illustrations that punctuate our features are created on. So that took a little time for us to replace and upgrade that but we’re back in business now. Chip Paper is as much about the illustrations as it is the long-form writing, we can’t really envisage this space with one and not the other.
We also just surpassed our 100th Sunday Times Ireland restaurant review as its restaurant critics and there is quite a few exciting writing gigs (and speaking gigs) coming up in the first few months of this year which is keeping us super busy. Substack still is a massive priority for us since we cherish this outlet but the economics can’t be ignored: even with a few incredibly, incredibly valued paid subscribers who support our work this outlet represents a tiny part of our earnings but we are spending as much time and effort as we can in and around other earnings and income streams.
📦 Goods Inwards on Substack? 📦
Another new thing we’re toying with is: sharing some of the PR drops we receive in a Substack mailer, similar to this one, free for all to read. We already HEAVILY regulate showcasing what we’re sent by brands and agencies in a once-in-a-blue-moon Instagram showcase we call ‘Goods Inwards’. It neatly boxes off the unboxing of different bits in one go rather than every second story/reel being something gifted or brand-organised. It’s easier on our audience to digest and easier on us to compile and curate as we don’t show everything we’re sent and we like to make it valuable with lots of information, prices, links and all around genuine content. Any interest in seeing that here in a mailer maybe once a month or two months? Please vote below
Reading & Watching
We’re reading Ina Garten’s memoir and loving delving into the eclectic backstory of one of our cookery icons. How bad can THAT be?
Great British Menu just began its 20th season on BBC Two this week with the North West heat and a very strong level for an opening week. There’s a new judge (Lorna McNee of Cail Bruich, replacing Nisha Katona) and a gorgeous new look to the judging chamber. The theme this year is “Great Britons”.
OBVIOUSLY we were hooked on The Traitors UK (forever team Minah and adored Francesca) and now straight into The Traitors US. We saw someone on Blue Sky describe doing similar as a “sort of methadone” after the conclusion of the UK version. Both are on BBC iPlayer.
We binged Squid Game 2 [Netflix] in nearly one sitting. We would have loved a conclusion rather than season 3 being a continuation of the same story….
We have dipped into Severance [Apple TV] but it hasn’t really held our attention, likewise Matlock [NowTV] which had a captivating opening but just kind of draws on.
Two London-based crime dramas we have also been binging with strong female leads, Black Doves with Keira Knightley and Gangs of London with Michelle Fairley. Both are on Netflix.
Two podcast recommendations: Club Sandwich from Big Brother alum couple Henry Southan and Jordan Sangha, and the Noiser-produced The Curious History of Your Home with domestic historian Ruth Goodman.
RECAP: Sunday Times Ireland Reviews
Our most recent 10 reviews across November, December and January, in case you missed them in print/online or need some dining inspiration:
Tang, Dublin 2
Folk, Enniskillen
Library Street, Dublin 2 (review #100!)
Woodruff, Dublin 18
Madame Pho, Dublin 2
Forêt, Dublin 4
Reggie’s, Dublin 6
Hong Kong Wonton, Dublin 2
Good Day Deli, Cork City
Nomo Ramen, Dublin 2
Reading: ICYMI —
RECAP: RTÉ Lifestyle
Did you know Patrick has been writing for RTÉ Lifestyle regularly over the last year or two? Mostly he covers the food scene around Ireland beyond Dublin’s limits but for a quick overview here are some of the topics he has covered:
BTW, we’re getting married!?
We forgot to mention… we got ENGAGED since we last updated you all. We took a trip to our beloved Lisbon late last year and decided to get married (click for details). We’ve been in that initial engagement bubble where you are flooded with well wishes and bubbly and all warm and fuzzy but now we’re overdue actually planning the wedding and a big ‘ol party with our nearest and dearest that screams ‘us’ so the pressure is on now!
Travelling: Paris, Cork, Spain, Switzerland
Lisbon was a joy in November but we squeezed in a trip to Paris in that post-Christmas ‘Twixmas’ period, then a few days in Cork in early January and we’re planning lots of Irish stays (dog-friendly please!) this year as well as a long leisurely week in late summer in rural Sweden.
Finally, as we write this we’re heading to the airport to fly to Alicante for Benidorm Fest, Spain’s national song selection for Eurovision. Yes, selection SZN is in full swing, we watched Luxembourg last week, Greece the other night and this weekend is all about Sweden kicking off and Spain concluding. As a viewer/fan it’s a full time job, lol. We’re also planning our hopeful trip to Basel in Switzerland, the host of this year’s contest, in mid-May.
Ireland’s own selection taking place on Friday 7th February. Keep an eye out during the Late Late Show Eurosong special (on both RTÉ and streaming on RTÉ Player internationally) you may just spot some familiar faces in the audience 👀
Special offer: Subscribe for 2025!
We have reduced our fees to the minimum Substack allows: €35 for annual (or €5 monthly) which works out 40% cheaper than previously, which is less than a sole takeaway coffee at under €3 per month to support our independent writing. We truly appreciate it.
Thanks for reading! Chip Paper is brought to you by Patrick Hanlon and Russell Alford, also known collectively under our brand name: GastroGays. Irish food and travel writers, Sunday Times Ireland restaurant critics, broadcasters and content creators, this is our home of food long-reads, deep-dives and guides. You can find us elsewhere on Instagram, TikTok and our website GastroGays.com